I had the use of a new RX450h Premier again last week, while my own car was in for some warranty work (radio unit being replaced). With the evenings drawing in, I had the opportunity to drive the car at night over 45 miles of B-roads across country.
I was blown away.
I had been impressed previously by the Auto High Beam function available on some Lexus models, which automatically and efficiently manages the switch between low and high beam, but the Adaptive High beam System in the new RX is something else and is just outstanding.
The system does not just automatically switch from low to high and high to low beam, but provides various degrees of lighting in between, varying the intensity and range of each of the 3 pairs of LEDs depending on traffic and road conditions to optimize visibility. As you follow another vehicle on a dark country road, you can see the range of the lighting stretch all the way to the car in front and also expand sideways, without switching to full beam. As you get closer, the beam retracts accordingly. If another car comes towards you, you can see the beam from the right-hand side reshape itself so as to not blind the oncoming driver. And of course, when the car does switch to full beam, the level of brightness is just incredible with a very long reach both in front and sideways. It is just like driving in daylight.
While the system does not provide swivelling headlights as of old, it has small, but very bright LED cornering lights imbedded in the bumper, next to the fog lamps. They are so small, you barely notice them when looking at the car, however whenever you drive around a corner or switch the indicators on, they brightly illuminate the road at a 75 degree angle far better than the old AFS system.
In all, this new system makes driving at night a lot more relaxing and far less tiring.